Taking a few minutes on this dark day to pass on some recent news, from Saratoga and beyond. Hello Race Fans!, the fan education site for which I am a contributing editor, announced this morning that it’s acquired Raceday360, the racing news aggregator created by Jessica Chapel of Railbird. HRF’s press release provides more information,…
Following a terrific weekend of racing, we get this: #EastCoastHorseRacingIndustry cheated greatest race mare in history outta #HOY. She shd run where she is loved. And this: Racing tweeps jumped the proverbial shark this weekend. We’re all now just a non-stop cliche squaking cliche box. Ish is faded. Break time. And this: “What is it? Everybody’s afraid…
On a spectacularly beautiful Saratoga morning, hundreds of racing fans turned out to support New York backstretch charities and get a little exercise in this morning’s Fasig-Tipton 5k to benefit the Belmont Child Care Association, the Backstretch Education Fund, Backstretch Employees Service Team, and the Racetrack Chaplaincy. I went into this morning’s race with no hope of matching…
She is a rugged, strong filly, with big joints and a good frame, very much of the type usually with a *Challenger II. Her head is very good and her expression feminine, but otherwise she is a rather masculine type of filly. Thus Joe Palmer described Gallorette, champion handicap mare of 1946 and the mare…
I was quick to criticize the stewards’ report of July 29 for its rather mind-numbing obviousness, so here is their next foray, from August 1: RACE 4 – Steward’s Inquiry into the stretch run, involving #7 Six Flings (V. Santiago) and #3 Mine Over Matter (K. Desormeaux). In the judgment of the stewards, the contact…
Quality Road made a special guest appearance on Monday morning at Saratoga. After the track was closed for training and the grounds cleared at 10 a.m., the starting gate was moved to near the finish line so that the likely Whitney favorite could school a bit before this weekend’s start. Todd Pletcher, when asked why…
Racing abounds with contests named after equine royalty: The Personal Ensign. The Ruffian. The Shuvee. The Vagrancy. Their names evoke speed and strength and superiority. To win them is, in some small part, to be linked to them. But then there’s the Diana. The Diana. Not just royalty, but a goddess. The chaste and fleet…
Today brings the first of two twilight racing cards at the Spa this summer; post time is 2:30. Yesterday brought several promotions to the track: a short-sleeved T-shirt giveaway and a mid-summer St. Patrick’s Day. As I walked into the track just as the first race went off, I saw, in quick succession: people lined…
In what has become something of a Saratoga tradition, the jockeys played basketball last night for charity. Three years ago, they took on a fifth grade A.A.U. team from Texas, beating the youngsters by a score of 44-39; two years ago, the kids came back for a rematch and trounced the riders, 49-32. Last night,…
Rick Schosberg has trained Giant Moon since his first start as a two-year-old, in September of 2007. Giant Moon won that race, and his next three, all New York-bred stakes races. Schosberg has seen him through wins and losses, through injuries and setbacks. He knows his horse. But yesterday at Saratoga, Giant Moon showed his…
Brooklyn Backstretch 